Selling A Condo Or Co-Op During A Divorce
Go Back To Previous PageWhen you said “till death do us part,” you both did mean it. Unfortunately, that never seems to be the case for around half of all marriages in America. Even if you wanted to try to make it work, divorce sometimes happens to the best of us. When it does, the family home doesn’t always stay with one party or another. Can you sell the property during a divorce? Sometimes, you will have to sell off the old home and split the proceeds. Selling a house is painful enough. But things get rougher when you sell a condo or a co-op. You must know a lot more when trying to sell during a divorce. After all, it’s not just “your” home. Marketing during a divorce can be tricky! How do you sell your house during a divorce?
Do I Have To Tell Potential Buyers That I Live With An HOA?
When it comes to condos and co-ops, it’s a given that you will have a Homeowners’ Association in charge of maintaining your area. This is especially true if you are living in New York City.
However, that doesn’t mean you can ignore the fact that you’re in an HOA. You have to note that you have an HOA, ideally in writing.
1. How Should I Tell Buyers About The HOA?
Both condos and co-ops have documentation and by-laws that new buyers need to know before moving in. This includes a run-through of owner
fees. You will need to give your real estate agent the number to the HOA office to collect the documents and give them to buyers.
You are in the middle of a divorce, so you need to realize that you can’t always trust your ex to help in this process.
2. What Should You Do If Your Soon-To-Be-Ex Is Making It Hard For You To Sell The Home During A Divorce?
Many people will do whatever it takes to make their exes suffer or delay divorce finalization. This includes delaying the sale of a home by making it hard to do walkthroughs or even refusing to aid real estate agents.
How do you sell your house during a divorce under these conditions? You must consult your divorce attorney if your soon-to-be-ex is doing this. You need to bring your suitable real estate agent into the loop.
3. The Ex Marks the Spot
Co-op boards must understand the risk they face if they erroneously transfer shares. The wronged spouse could sue the board for half the value of the apartment. In a case two years ago, the ex-husband of a shareholder in a luxury Upper East Side co-op threatened to sue the board.
His wife showed the apartment to potential buyers without his approval, according to Elliot Meisel, a partner in the law firm Brill & Meisel. He eventually withdrew his threat.
To protect itself from legal risks, a co-op board should have its lawyers review the transfer documents rather than a property manager. All parties involved should have legal counsel and be present at the closing, even if the various matrimonial attorneys need to help to keep the spouses apart.
Condo boards, however, are spared this complication, as a condominium sale is more like a private home sale. A title insurance company, not the board, vets the transfer of title.
Do I Have to Alert the HOA I Want to Sell During a Divorce?
It depends on the type of housing that you currently live in. Most of the time, you do not have to explain to the HOA why you are selling. If you have a condo, it may be legal to require disclosure. However, you may still want to do that to ensure you have all the documents potential buyers wish.
Co-ops can be a little different. Depending on the co-op rules, you may need to sell your piece back to the co-op so that all current residents get a share
of the profits. On the other hand, others may allow you to make a standard sale where the rest of the home’s increase becomes your profit. Due to this little fact, you should tell the co-op you’re selling.
Can HOAs Refuse A Sale Offer You Get During A Divorce?
While you may be in a rush to get the condo or co-op sold, there can be stumbling blocks in your way. One of those is that you may not be allowed to sell your home to specific buyers, especially not real estate developers, during a divorce.
If you own a co-op, you might have the board reject an offer on your behalf simply because they feel a better buyer could come along. Time can be an issue, and if you are desperate for a quick sale, it may be an intelligent move to explain the situation about your sale.
If domestic violence is a crucial reason for the divorce, talk to your attorney and notify the HOA. There may be specific resources and rights at your disposal.
Can You Make A Short Sale On A Condo Or Co-Op During A Divorce?
Can I sell my house during a divorce via a short sale? You may hear about short sales being made to further the divorce process once in a blue moon. However, condos and co-ops don’t usually allow this.
Your best option is to ask the HOA what they will allow and discuss the matter. This may require some legal string-pulling to push through.
Selling During A Divorce: What Can You Do To Rush The Process?
Can you sell your house during a divorce? You should talk to a real estate agent who can develop a strategy to make your sale work quickly. When in doubt,
choose an experienced brokerage with extensive experience with people who have dealt with divorce.
Give your divorce attorney a heads-up about what you want to do. You should have nothing to worry about between an excellent real estate agent and a good lawyer.
Rearing Its Ugly Head
Divorces are messy, and sometimes, the ends don’t get neatly tied together. If a separating couple doesn’t finalize all the terms of their divorce, perhaps in an attempt to save money or because they never reached any agreement, the apartment they once shared might still be considered a shared asset.
And depending on their ownership agreement, particularly with co-ops, an absent spouse might have rights to the apartment years later. Or, if the spouse dies, her estate might still have a right to it.
In the end, boards should always have an attorney review a divorce case, even if it happened years earlier. That ex-spouse rears his ugly head and shows that the board missed something, and then you’re left out in the cold.
